C.S. Daley's Blog, page 17

Geek Gatekeeper

It appears the "what makes a geek" question has reared its ugly head again. Miss USA Alyssa Campanella got it started by gushing her geekness. She is beautiful, so of course she must be pandering. While reading the current fight I noticed one of the arguments against being able to claim your eternal nerdhood or geektasticness was being bullied. Getting picked last. One person (Matt Raub) talked about not being popular or liking sports. I have always considered myself a geek and nerd. I feel like I need to make a confession here though. I can shoot a basketball with regularity into the hoop from 21 feet out. I can dribble the ball through my legs, around my back, with both hands, and make you look foolish when you try to guard me. I can shoot left and right handed. I have never been picked last. I show off to my students at school by making trick shots. One of them is shooting a three pointer with my eyes closed. I am passionate about sports. I almost wept when the San Francisco Giants won the World Series.

I have been bullied at various times in my life but I don't think this is an exclusive club. I think everyone has been bullied at one time or another. I wasn't popular in high school but I have to admit some of that was by choice. I was lost, confused, and angry. Not the easiest person to be a friend with. The people I played sports with really didn't understand me any better than the people I played Dungeons and Dragons with. My problem was I didn't know who I was. I didn't know what I stood for. This is called growing up. I got called a nerd. I got funny looks when I pulled out the comics in class. People called me names. None of these things made me a nerd anymore than being good at sports didn't make me one.

I am a geek because I want to be. It is how I define myself because of what the culture means today. It wasn't that long ago nerd and geek were words used to hurt, I understand that. Things change though. They must because a geek used to be a carnival performer who performed disgusting acts. Words change. Cultures change. Being a geek is not an exclusive club. Trying to make it one is no better than what many geeks claim was done to them as a child. I don't want to take anyone's past, pain, or history away from them but holding onto it so you can claim some control over a word is an impossible task. There is no rule book. There is no standard. People define themselves and if they choose to define it as geek then all I can say is welcome. If the culture of geek is something new for you I can promise there are plenty of guides around who would love to spend a few minutes sharing what they love. There is no geek gatekeeper deciding who gets in and who doesn't. Nor should there ever be.

Comics are my mythology. Science fiction and fantasy are my passion. I saw Star Wars in the theaters as a child over thirty times (I lost track after that). I am a life long sports fan. I can shoot a little round ball into a little round hoop. I happen to think I am a very pretty man (I stole this from Chistopher Titus). I am a geek but the word does not define me. I define me. I don't choose my friends because they say they are geeks. I choose them because we connect. Sometimes that connection has nothing to do with what we like. I belong to a culture that calls itself geek. We are big, small, different colors. We are all beautiful. Sometimes that beauty happens to fall inside the bubble that society deems desirable. None of these things matter. I happen to think we spend way too much time on this planet building up walls to divide ourselves. You want to call yourself a geek no one can stop you. Nor should anyone want to. Time to stop fighting over this silly argument and start fighting about things that really matter. Like DC Comics blowing up their universe, that shit is epic.

Self-Publishing Learning Curve

This week was used almost entirely educating myself on marketing. I spent a lot of time on book blogs trying to find places to send out my book to get it reviewed. I was surprised to find a lot of blogs which refused to accept novels from self-published writers. I wonder how long before this changes. What I have found is once technology lets something new out of the bag it rarely goes back.

Are book blogs going to refuse a book by J.A. Konrath or Barry Eisler? What happens when the first really big fish jumps into the pond. I mean, seriously, you going to turn down Stephen King? This of course doesn't help me as I wade into the brave new world of e-books. It is slow going but I am hoping over the next few weeks I will get some request to review my books. They are simply not going to sell themselves, I am going to need some help.

The sales continue to trickle in. I will take the trickle because the alternative is no sales. Let me tell you this being in charge of everything is not easy. The learning curve is steep. At least it appears I have sorted out the error in the Amazon manuscript. I also got a lot of help from my brother this week.

He spent a bunch of time this week getting the book Smashwords ready. I will probably submit it tomorrow and then wait for Smashwords to tell me if we got approved or not. With any luck I will be on the Sony e-reader and iPad soon. I am a little frustrated with Smashwords because the only reason I am using them is to get into Apple's iBookstore and Sony's e-bookstore. Both those companies use epub which I have already formatted. Smashwords requires a Word document so they can send it through their e-book meat grinder and spit it out in a bunch of formats. Silly because all I care about is epub and I already did this. Hopefully, Smashwords will change their policy someday.

This week I will finish up at least one comic script and hope to make some major in roads on The Dark Lands book 2. I will be turning over the book 2 manuscript to my brother as I finish chapters so that hopefully the Smashwords edition will be ready at the same time as the Kindle and Nook versions. Everything is still a go for August.

I will let my lovely readers know as I start to get reviews (both good and bad) and if for some reason you have been putting off purchasing the books do me a solid and go pick them up now. If you feel up to it post a review at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. A few more sales and I can buy the kittens some new toys (like the spoiled beasts need any new toys).

 

Amazon Link for A Very Zombie Holiday

Barnes & Noble Link for A Very Zombie Holiday

A Very Zombie Holiday UK Link

The Shadow Men at Amazon

The Shadow Men at Barnes & Noble

The Shadow Men at Amazon UK

Bad Author! (Please read if you bought The Shadow Men)

The wonderful world of publishing is full of obstacles that will allow you to look like a complete idiot. I am not a happy man right now. Somehow when I created my Kindle version of The Shadow Men a chapter (18) did not go into the Kindle version. This despite the fact it showed on my computer as being there. Luckily, my brother caught it and I fixed it. Unluckily, Amazon apparently has forgotten to send out an email to the people who bought the book that there is an updated version. This means people rolling along in my book (and hopefully enjoying it) are going to suddenly think, "that was a strange jump."

It leaves me feeling extremely foolish. I tried very hard to approach this professionally and now I have a big giant pie in my face. To my readers I can only apologize and say it will never happen again. The hardest part about trying to do everything yourself is mistakes will get made but this was a doozy and I find it unacceptable. There is a solution to get you the updated book if you never received the email. I hope this mistake will not stop you from buying the next book in the series.

To get Amazon to update your book you will need the order number. Go to your account page and click on manage your Kindle. Click on The Shadow Men and then order details and you will see your order number. Then you want to contact customer service. Here is a link directly to the page: Amazon Customer Service

Once there click on the pull down menu for Kindle Books, Subscriptions, and other content. Enter your order id number and then click send us an email.

Type the following message:

The book The Shadow Men by C.S. Daley has been updated by author and I never received an email asking me to update to correct addition. Please update my archived addition.

You should receive an email fairly quick (I got mine in 30 minutes). Once you get the email go to wherever you have stored the book and delete it (Kindle, iPad, Computer, etc.). Once deleted redownload to your device and your book will be accurate and include the mysteriously missing chapter 18.

If you got the email none of the above steps matter as long as you replied to the email from Amazon saying update my book. If you didn't, the above steps will take care of the problem. Again, I am sorry for the trouble and I promise to actually look a little more professional when book 2 comes out. Now, if you will excuse me I am going to go stand in a corner and beat myself with a wet noodle.

It's A Small World

Social media has made the world a very tiny place. It's why I have a good laugh anytime some scandal breaks because some "not so intelligent" person put pictures or words out into the world with the ridiculous notion they would remain a secret. I mean seriously people it is time to catch up. This weekend we were driving to my niece's college graduation party (another not so subtle attempt by my darling nieces to make me feel old. It's not working though my immaturity gives me a natural defense) and passed a van on the freeway boldly decorated with the name Donavon Frankenreiter. There was a picture of a man holding a guitar so I assumed we were passing a musician's van. I had never heard of him but his van was interesting (it demanded I smile in bold letters on the back. I tried not to but was unable to resist the urge).

I turned on my iPad (no I was not driving. I am dangerous but not that dangerous) and looked him up. I read his bio, looked at his tour page, made myself a note to listen to his music when I got home. Then on a complete lark I hit his Twitter button and left a note teasing him about his van telling me to smile. Within thirty minutes a man whom I had never met had sent me back a note on Twitter telling me where he was heading. This is a kind of amazing thing here. The ability to reach out and communicate with people is astounding. I have friends from all over the world whom I have never met.

As the world gets smaller and smaller it will be harder than ever to keep your privacy secure. I walk a fine line of wanting everyone to know who I am because I would like to sell them books and kind of hating how easy it is for people to know even the most minute of details. Still, I am not complaining. My world has been greatly enriched by social media. The friends I have made keep me sane. I understand if I put something out there people are going to see it and I will be judged. It's the price we pay to live in this new world. The sooner everyone realizes it the less my life will have to be bombarded by ridiculous stories of people sending pictures of their genitals to unsuspecting Twitter folks.

By the way, I don't really care if people send naked pictures. I just prefer they send them to people who want them and for them to not be stupid about it. I swear if one more person enters into sexual rehab I might have to send my zombies after them to eat their brains (this is a joke I know they don't have any brains). In the meantime, enjoy your social networking. Remember nothing is secret anymore. Try not to ruin it for everyone. Make some new friends and don't hurt John Cusack's feelings on Twitter because he will block your ass.

To Publish or Not To Publish?

I have been thinking a lot about what level of success I am looking for on my books. What is the magic number that makes continuing to publish my own work a feasible plan? After much pounding of numbers I have no answers. Mostly because there is not a great up front cost right now.

I have to pay for the cover art but I am able to format the books for Kindle and Nook. My brother is going to take a crack at Smashwords. Breaking even is not something I am going to worry about because it will happen with every book. No, I am more interested in the abstract problem. Is there a certain amount of negative or positive reviews required. Is no reviews at all a message in and of itself?

I have always told myself I wouldn't kid myself about this whole thing. If I publish a bunch of books and no one comes to the party it might be time to go back to writing for myself. Right now I have no easy answers and I am not too worried about it. I know the time will come where I might have to take this decision more serious but it isn't there yet.

The next biggest problem on my mind is the genre. I really prefer writing YA books but I wonder if it is because I enjoyed the story of the last trilogy so much. Having just finished my first adult novel I now have to decide do I stick with YA or do I do a few adult books? I have several ideas for both genres but haven't been able to decide where to go next. Luckily, I have some time because I have a few projects that have to be finished first.

I have finished the rough outline on two comic scripts and will be writing those over the next couple of weeks while I am editing Whispers of the Dead. I am going to send both scripts into Dark Horse before I head off to Comic-Con this year. It was a goal I set for myself last year and I plan to keep it.

Speaking of Comic-Con. I was denied my press congenital this year which bummed me out a little. I will just have to keep plugging away at building some bylines and try again next year. I should still be going and I hope my articles from this year will keep cementing my press pass for next year. In the meantime if you haven't had a chance to buy my two books yet, wander on over and treat yourself. Help a confused man make up his mind.

Amazon Link for A Very Zombie Holiday

Barnes & Noble Link for A Very Zombie Holiday

A Very Zombie Holiday UK Link

 

The Shadow Men at Amazon

The Shadow Men at Barnes & Noble

The Shadow Men at Amazon UK

Weiner's Wiener & Other Tales of Stupid

When stories first started appearing that New York Congressman Anthony Weiner had sent a picture of his love pump to some unfortunate soul on Twitter I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Twitter accounts get hacked all the time. I didn't totally believe it but I like to wait for actual proof before I throw someone in the skillet.

Of course, he almost immediately had me doubting the veracity of his story when he started spouting nonsense about neither confirming nor denying that said piece of lumber might be his. I mean I guess it is possible he doesn't have as close and personal of a relationship as it seems with Mr. Happy. It is entirely in the realm of possibility he forgot what the litte congressman looks like. Maybe Weiner has a heightened sense of touch and without actually holding his joystick he loses all sense of perspective.

Or maybe he is just stupid. There must be some sort of intelligence test somewhere which you are required to fail in order to run for public office. Not only was it a stupid thing to do but everything out of his mouth since then has been stupid. He would have been better off hiring Beavis & Butthead to do his PR work. Every time he opens his mouth I have an overwhelming urge to stick my foot in it (this by the way would be impossible since his foot is so firmly lodged down his own throat he is currently kicking his own butt).

You know what I wish? I wish we could do exactly what DC Comics is doing this September. Reboot our entire political representation. Throw out all the old ones and start over with new shiny models which might be less inclined to look like jackasses (I apologize to all jackasses. Comparing you to politicians is a nasty thing to do).

In other news of stupid. This week Nintendo unveiled their new Wii with its iPad sized controller. Now, I admit I thought the controller looked stupid. I mean, seriously, who is going to hold a controller that big while playing video games? But I learned long ago never jump to conclusions with Nintendo, they have a way of confounding your expectations.

No, what I thought was stupid about the new Wii presentation was they showed a bunch of games with their new incredible high-resolution graphics and forgot to tell us that we in fact were looking at graphics from Xbox 360 and PS3 games. In other words, our graphics are so good you likely already own them. Why do I need to buy a new Wii when I have two systems that already own it comes to processing power and graphics? I guess they think the controller, which can double as a serving tray, is going to be a big draw.

The final bit of stupid news is, of course, all the so-called "technology experts" who are once again writing off Apple and their new iCloud and OS systems. They all keep yapping up a storm about how Google this and Google that will eventually kick Apple's hind quarters. Those people are starting to remind me of the fisherman in the Deadliest Catch. This last season one boat was going through some crap fishing. Every episode they pulled out some new superstitious piece of ridiculousness to break their fishing drought. One after another they failed until finally they started catching some fish.

They immediately claimed "we knew that ridiculous piece of superstition" was dragging us down. Convenientely forgetting the other billion things they tried and failed at. That's where the so-called tech experts are at. They keep predicting the fall of Apple. They laugh at every new piece of technology joy and yet Apple is still king of the hill. I guess a decade from now if Apple falls apart they will all step forward and say, "I knew it!" I hope they are wearing their dunce caps when they do.

Plan X

I have been thinking about how to write this blog for a few days. I am still not completely satisfied with how my brain is processing all the conflicting thoughts. Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows what a huge fan of Amanda Palmer I am. I have written some of my favorite blogs writing about Amanda. I think it is why I have had such a hard time processing how I was going to write this. I respect her a lot.

This time, however, I think I have to disagree with her. She has been very active on Twitter the last week spreading the message of, "fuck plan B!" The message being pursue your goal relentlessly. Having a back up plan is to admit failure before even starting. It suggests that if you are relentless, success will surely follow in its wake. Having a plan B is self sabotage (and any number of other things).

I think this is a naive and dangerous message. It also is a very easy message to spread when plan B might not leave you homeless and starving. When you yourself didn't grow up in poverty. As a teacher I spend everyday of every year encouraging my students to find their passions and follow their dreams.

I also encourage them to be hard workers. To make goals and plans. How to adapt to change and the inevitable failure which occurs in life. I try to show them a world outside the little box of poverty and failure which surrounds them. The high school graduation in my town is abysmal. Less than one in four head off to college. 85% percent of my school is on free and reduced lunch. Economically, my town is screwed.

Many of my students have parents who work in multiple jobs that are clearly not their plan A. 40, 50, 60 hours a week picking crops. Working at McDonalds. Greeting at Wal-Mart. They are my heroes. They do these jobs on the chance that their kids can have it better. To put food on the table and a roof over their children's heads.

I want my students to grow up and be whatever they want. I tell them to strive and work for their dreams. I want them to have lots of dreams. I also want their life to be happy and meaningful. I want them to have less worry and heart ache than many of their parents. This is where teaching them to adapt is so important. Failure is a part of life. They need to know how to learn, recover, and improve when failure occurs.

I speak with a certain amount of authority on this issue. I have known I wanted to be a writer since I was in third grade. I also know what it is like to eat cheese sandwiches for lunch everyday because government cheese was the only kind of lunch we could afford. I know what being hungry feels like. I know what bad medical care and bad living conditions feel like. I have lived in an apartment complex where drugs were all around and an occasional police occupation didn't seem weird. I know poverty.

I know what it feels like being told by teachers I will never reach my elusive dream. There were no thoughts of college when I was a child. Most days I was trying to figure out a way to stay sane. I had a plan A. It was to go to LA and write movies that my best friend Curt would direct. Then Curt died. To say my plan A blew up into a big pile of flaming dog shit would be an understatement.

I went to college and I worked 40 plus hours a week because there was no money from my family to help me. I was out on my own at 18. I have never not worked. I never stopped wanting to be a writer. I also had no desire to starve or live on the street. Poverty was not an option I was willing to engage in. Writing never stopped being the fire which drove me.

I went on to plan B, C, D…I think I might be on plan X now. I am still writing. I work all day and I write all night. I am always writing (just ask my wife). I make no excuses for having more than one plan. The relentless pursuit of my plan A would have meant I would not have met my wife. It would have meant I would not be a teacher.

This is a crazy thought to me. The only thing which fills me with as much passion as writing is teaching. I know this will sound egotistical but I know I have changed lives. Lots of lives. I have made a difference. I am a damn fine teacher. Teaching was probably my plan G and I happen to think if I had not found my way into a whole lot of children's lives would have been positively influenced. It isn't that I have ever given up on my passion of writing. I simply have more than one passion and I multi-task well.

It's easy to say "fuck plan B!" I get the sentiment but it is not the reality of the world in my opinion. It is certainly not the reality of my students. When the best meal of the day is the one you have at school than you had better start planning for your future. You had better have a clear understanding of work. I want the world for my students and I encourage them to chase their dreams. Happiness has many paths and there is no one road to finding it.

Recharged Brain

This is a blog about not writing. I got nothing. Thanks for reading……

I thought about posting the above statement and letting it go but I knew my readers wouldn't really believe I didn't have anything to write. Since today is the day I usually update on my writing during the week it will be a particularly short blog because I didn't do a whole lot of writing this week. Upon completion of Keepers, I thought I would take a few days and then start the final edit on Darklands Book 2. This did not happen. Instead I read a lot this week. In particularly comics. I was so far behind on my comic reading that my kittens were using the shipping boxes by the door as a cat tree.

I don't think I have been caught up on my comic reading in a very long time, over a year definitely. I should be all caught up later tonight or tomorrow. This makes me happy because while I have been reading the comics I have also been sketching out some ideas for two different comic series (one is a new one. One is one I have been working on for a bit). My goal is to have an outline and sample script done for each of them by the end of June and then send them off to Darkhorse. Summer vacation starts next week and we are not going anywhere right away so I will have some time.

I also spent a lot of time reading about e-book marketing and trying a few things out. I suck really hard at it. Book sales have slowed to a down right crawl. I am trying not to worry about it. I will admit that I had hoped they would do a little better. It has been an interesting lesson in exactly how much Twitter has been worth to marketing (not as much as I hoped). Especially the Zombie Holiday book. At a whopping .99 there isn't much of a reason for people not to give it a go. Of the two books out there I also know it is the one people are going to be far more likely to love (not that the other one is bad but the zombie book is a different beast. Humor, horror, and a nice little love story are hard to beat). Despite the low price point the sales have also dried up.

What this means is I will have to keep working at getting myself out there. It is a steep learning curve but I am in no particular hurry. On the plus side, I did receive what could only be deemed as my first bit of fan mail. It was on the Zombie book and it was from someone I didn't know in the least. I have to admit it was cool to write them a quick note back. Now if I can find a way to make that person buy fifty copies for her friends I will be in business. I'll start editing and writing again this week. I plan on having my editing done by the end of June and then I will start-up on the last Darklands book (which I want done by September). I am not sure if I am any good but I am prolifically disillusioned if I am not.

DC Comics Goes BOOM!

Unless you were abducted by aliens (hope they didn't probe too hard) or fallen completely off the grid, you heard the news. It sent shockwaves across the comic universe. DC Comics is starting over. Every superhero book will get a relaunch at number 1. All of their superhero books will become more current and younger (in an attempt to bring new readers in). They will also be releasing all comics digitally on the same day they come out in the comic book store.

The reactions were all over the place and most were running towards the negative. If I am DC I don't worry about all the negative talk because in my experience it is usually the people with an axe to grind who scream the loudest and most often at something new. One comment section I read was filled with the comment, "I am done with DC."

I had the exact opposite reaction. Mine was, "I am done with Marvel." At least I will come back to Marvel as soon as they jump completely on the Digital train. I have been waiting since I bought my iPad for Marvel or DC to start releasing their comics digitally at the same time they put them into stores. This is a big deal for me. I love comics but they have been left almost entirely off my blog. No reviews, very few mentions in my "Geeking Out" blog. I don't get my comics until a month after they have come out. I have no comic store around me and I have to have them shipped in.

The shipping is inconvient and expensive. I get a discount on the books but it is swallowed up by the shipping costs. The truth is I could probably have them shipped cheaper because I am months behind on reading my Marvel and DC books (I usually catch up in the summer). Since I don't get to experience the thrill of reading them the day they come out (like most of my friends) they tend to sit there while I catch up on all my other projects. Comic books are not an easy thing to haul around. Unless, of course, they are on my iPad. I have read every issue on my iPad.

With my iPad I am allowed to read at school on my breaks, in the car, on airplanes, I can take my comics everywhere and I love it. I have a limited comic budget (this might be a lie). With DC going digital they (and other digital publishers who publish current books) will get all of my money from here on in. This will also solve my other problem of having no more room in my house. As a kid I loved collecting comics. As an adult I love reading them. I am constantly selling off large parts of my collection to make room. I hate this. I have sold comics I would love to reread some day, now I will be able to.

This brings me back to the whole starting at number 1 issue. Apparently, there are quite a few people out there that think DC is doing a disservice to collectors. I don't buy it. If you have 500 issues of Batman, starting it over at number 1 doesn't change anything. Who cares what number is in the corner. I care about story and art. If you bring me a good book I will read it. If it sucks I won't. I have stopped buying Batman, Spider-Man, JLA, and any number of books many times in my life. I do so because they put a new creative team on it I don't like. At some point the team changes to someone I like and I come back.

My brother doesn't read comics. Not because he doesn't like them, he has enjoyed quite a few stories I have passed his way. He doesn't read them because he prefers graphic novel and I don't buy many of those. When I told him about the renumbering his response was a simple, "so what?" He reads comics if they are good and I rave about them. Then there is my wife who loves reading comics but doesn't really like the comic book format. Trust me when I tell you she will be all over digital comics. She loves her iPad. Getting to read Birds of Prey or Wonder Woman the day it comes out will turn her into a bigger fan.

And really isn't that the point of all of this. Comic book sales are struggling still. Marvel and DC thrive because of merchandising and movies. They have an opportunity here to bring in a lot of readers with the advent of digital. I, for one, am all for that. The more people reading them, the better. I want comics to thrive. I want comic book companies taking chances. Doing interesting stories. I want to be entertained. I actually still prefer reading comics to any other type of reading I do. Anything which grows the industry is a good thing. I don't care what number is on the cover. I care if J.T. Krull, or Warren Ellis, or Mike Carey, or any number of other writers is writing good books. It was a big boom but as the dust settles I am sure we will like the new landscape. We will be entertained. Now if someone could just get Marvel to push the button.

Lady Gaga

I spent the morning watching Lady Gaga's Monster Ball special on HBO. I had recorded it on my DVR when it first aired and let it sit there waiting for me to be in the mood to watch it. I am not a huge Lady Gaga fan. I like some of her music and really enjoy working out to a lot of her fast tracks. She is a little too poppy for me for the most part. I don't hold this against her. I am just not a big pop fan.

After watching the two-hour special I was struck by one particular thought. If I was a kid today, I would be all over the Lady Gaga band wagon. Growing up I didn't have a lot of variety of music. My choices were very limited for a lot of different reasons. It left me with a steady diet of The Beatles, whom I loved, but left me wanting someone who fit my particular feeling of being on the outside looking in.

It wasn't until high school my music really started stretching out. I became a huge fan of David Bowie and Peter Gabriel. I sunk myself into alternative music and never looked back. I have to give Lady Gaga a lot of credit. I am really not sure how she pulled this off. She is one strange bird, a trait I love, and somehow she has forged ahead to an immensely successful pop career. It was no easy trick.

I love the message she sends to the kids who love her. Be yourself, accept people for who they are, don't let the bullies write your script. I admit there is a small cynical part of me that wonders how much act is in her message. Ultimately, I don't care. In a world dominated by Justin Bieber and his clones I am glad Lady Gaga exists. The best part of her concert was when they scanned the crowd and you could see all different types of people rocking out to her music.

I have heard a lot of comparisons to Madonna but in my opinion they don't fit. Madonna was just another bad girl. A manufactured pop image. She pushed envelopes and she was immensely popular but she was never weird. I grew up in the Madonna era. I thought she was gorgeous. I didn't know too many boys my age who didn't. She still didn't speak to the outsider in me. I didn't listen to her music or watch her perform and think "she gets me." I think I most definitely would have felt that way about Lady Gaga.

On a final note I have to say I would have no interest in seeing Lady Gaga perform her Monster Ball type concert. However, I would be the first in line to listen to her sing an acoustic concert. The woman can sing, she can play, she is very talented and someone has got to convince her to do an unplugged type concert. I will never be a huge fan of her music. I can tolerate it. I enjoy it in certain circumstances but mostly it isn't on my playlist. I am still glad she is out there. In a world where American Idol rules and Bieber is a hit, I will take me some Lady Gaga any day.